Full Body Art Technician Licensing Information

If you are licensed in another state, you may qualify for licensure by reciprocity. If you are not licensed in another state or in a state that does not meet or exceed Minnesota's requirements, then you must follow the instructions below.

In order to become licensed as a body art technician in Minnesota, you must complete 200 hours of experience as a temporary technician under the supervision of a current State of Minnesota licensed body art technician and in a body art establishment that is currently licensed by the governing authority. The fee for a full license is $100 plus a $10 surcharge, for a total of $110.

For tattooists, at least 150 of the 200 hours MUST be skin time.

For piercers, you MUST have at least 250 piercings before applying.

To apply for a full dual license, you must document 200 hours/150 hours of skin time in tattooing AND 200 hours/250 piercings, for a total of 400 hours.

We will accept autoclaving, flash drawing, client consultations, set-ups, and tear-downs to make up the additional hours.

We will NOT accept:

cleaning the shop,

answering phones,

self-tattoos,

self-piercings,

research,

watching videos,

observations,

running errands, or

organizing the shop.

If you have a question whether or not a certain activity will count towards your 200 hours, call us and ask. Your log MUST contain the date of the procedure, a description of the procedure, the name an phone number of the client, the amount of time the procedure took, and your supervisor's initials. Due to the concerns about the safety of body art clients, time in excess of 8 hours per day will not be counted towards the 200 supervised hours required to qualify for a full license.

To obtain a full technician license, you must:

be 18 years of age or older;

complete the required amount of supervised experience as a temporary technician;

supply a complete log of supervised hours;

supply a signed letter of affirmation from supervisor stating they supervised you during your temporary license period;

supply a copy of a current, legal ID showing proof of age;

supply a copy of a current course certification (taken in the last year) in bloodborne pathogens, prevention of disease transmission, infection control, and aseptic technique;

Please note: Temporary licenses are NOT valid unless the listed supervisor is physically present. The Minnesota Department of Health will be analyzing and may deny any applications for temporary licensure with a supervisor who has listed 2 or more temporary technicians. The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines supervision as: "The action or process of watching and directing what someone does or how something is done: the action or process of supervising someone or something." No body art procedures may be performed unless the supervising technician is present and actively supervising.

Length of Licensure: Full technician licenses are valid for up to two years. All full technician licenses expire on March 31st. The first renewal fee will be a prorated amount based upon the month your license was issued.

Processing Time: Up to 30 days AFTER application paperwork is considered complete.